Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in a game-seven loss to Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals, multiple reports said on Monday.
The 25-year-old American point guard is at risk of missing the entire 2025-2026 campaign because of the injury, which is similar to one which cost NBA star Kevin Durant a full season after being hurt in the 2019 NBA Finals, ESPN and The Athletic said.
Haliburton became the third star player to be lost in the playoffs to a ruptured Achilles tendon after Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard — with all three uncertain at best for next season.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Haliburton is evaluating surgical options, after playing despite a calf strain in the NBA Finals in hopes of bringing the Pacers their first NBA title, reports said.
The Indiana star went down without being touched as he tried to drive to the basket just over seven minutes into the first quarter of the winner-take-all contest in the best-of-seven championship series.
Haliburton grimaced in pain and began slapping the court. He put no weight on the injured leg as he was helped off the court with towels covering his face.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
“What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “But he will be back. I don’t have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he’ll be back in time, and I believe he’ll make a full recovery.”
Haliburton had been averaging 17.7 points and an NBA-best 9 assists a game in the playoffs.
Without Haliburton, the Pacers went on to lose 103-91 in Oklahoma City, which won the NBA title for the first time.
“He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play,” Carlisle said. “It was just something that no one has ever seen.”
With three stars possibly lost for next season due to torn tendons in the playoffs, and the title game potentially turning on a major injury, the topic of reducing the 82-game per club regular season was set for the spotlight once again.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke upon the issue earlier this month after Tatum and Golden State’s Stephen Curry sustaining major injuries in the playoffs to reduce wear and tear on players.
The NBA provides more playoff rest days than in prior seasons, and there is “no data” to suggest fewer regular-season games would produce fewer injuries, Silver said.
“I’m not sure it’s a function of the regular season,” he said. “There’s a certain cadence to the playoffs. If anything, there’s more space in the playoff games than when you and I grew up in the NBA. We used to frequently play playoff games back-to-back on the weekends.”
“Having said that, we, of course, look at it very closely,” he said.
The NBA competition committee is to meet next month at Las Vegas, he said.
Denver Nuggets star Aaron Gordon spoke up about what some players call “fatigue-based injuries” in the playoffs after the load of a full season.
“Part of what we do is look at every form of data that we can get our hands on. That includes minutes played, injuries, and whatever impact we see that back-to-backs are having on players — not just measured by injuries, but also measured by production on the floor,” Silver said.
“We’re going to continue to look at it. I don’t think there are any magic bullets here. In fact, injuries are considered down this playoffs from what has been historically. I don’t want to make a change just to make it change. We will continue to look at it,” he said.
The NBA starts a new 11-year media rights deal worth US$76 billion next season.
“Money is part of it, there’s no question about it. We’re a business,” Silver said. “But having said that, I don’t really see the benefit to reducing the number of games.
“People used to say you should reduce the number of games, because it will lead to reduction in the number of injuries. There’s absolutely no data to suggest that,” he added.
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